


Post-Mission Care Time

by hopelessly_me



Category: Marvel
Genre: Fluff, Hurt Clint, M/M, Soft Boys, taking care of each other, tired boys, tub sharing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-09
Updated: 2020-05-09
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:27:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24090547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopelessly_me/pseuds/hopelessly_me
Summary: Bucky returns home from a mission exhausted and Clint does his best to take care of him.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton
Comments: 22
Kudos: 118





	Post-Mission Care Time

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pherryt](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pherryt/gifts).



> This one is dedicated to Pherryt. You are amazing, supportive, and an all around great person who deserves all the good things. <3

Bucky was dead on his feet, tossing his gear down the moment he walked into the apartment. He scrambled to catch the rifle he had thrown, not quite sure he wanted  _ that _ to be tossed around and sighed. He carefully took off his boots and set them in their designated spot before he leaned back against the wall. It had been a very long day.

He had a list going in his head of what he needed to do. First, he needed to check on Clint. He was out of commision for this mission since he had knocked his head just right the day before and was still sleeping off the effects of his concussion, promising he was fine. Of course he was fine, he’s a Hawkeye. Bucky hated whenever Clint or Kate said they were fine because when either of the Hawkeyes said that they were either puking, bleeding, or on death's door somehow- or there was the time he got to drag the both of them out of a dumpster.

Second, he needed food like crazy. He hadn’t eaten since early in the morning and it was beginning to gnaw away at him. He knew he had made soup yesterday- he could just reheat that and slice off some thick chunks of bread as long as Clint hadn’t eaten it all.

“Babe?” Bucky opened his eyes and looked at Clint who was hovering in the doorway of the hall, looking a little hesitant.

“Just tired, not hurt or anything,” Bucky promised.

Clint nodded and walked over. He was still a little pale, and the bruise on the right side of his face looked more wicked than it had that morning. And if his head looked like that, Bucky couldn’t imagine what his shoulder and back looked and felt like.

“Come on,” Clint said, taking Bucky’s hand and tugging.

“What?” Bucky asked, though he followed through.

“You need to eat,” Clint answered, pulling him to the table. “Sit. What do you want?” Clint entered the kitchen and Bucky sat down slowly. “Oh, hey, you have leftover chili. You like chili. Or we’ve got-”

“Chili is fine,” Bucky answered. Clint gave a small noise of approval and Bucky could hear him shuffling around. “Are you feeling better? You still look pale.”

“Well, I can walk without seeing double,” Clint answered. “Taking it slow. Kinda sore.” He poked his head out. “Crackers, cheese, sour cream?”

Bucky nodded and watched Clint’s head disappear. “Any vomiting?”

“Only once. I am taking that as a win,” Clint called. “Don’t worry, Lucky has been a good boy and has been watching me all day long.”

Bucky looked over to where Clint’s dog was laying on his orthopedic bed, his eye barely open at the mention of his name before he closed it. Somehow Bucky assumed that by “taken care of”, Clint meant that Lucky and Clint snoozed the day away on the couch together. If he was a betting man Bucky would wager that Clint hired a dog walker for the day as well, which probably made some kid’s dreams come true because they got to not only come inside Avengers Tower, but they now got the bragging rights to walking one of the pets. Tony had a pre-approved list of dog walkers made for Clint, which Clint naturally chose to ignore. Clint’s only rule was that any photo taken had to be tagged on Instagram under the name OneLuckyPizzaDog.

Clint came out and set down the biggest bowl and Bucky breathed in the spices. “Your cat slept on me all day. Lucky made sure I woke up to hire a Rover come on over person three times. And Natasha called once during your mission to remind me to eat.”

“Alpine slept on you?” Bucky asked before taking his first bite.

“Mhhh. I think he likes me. And he chewed on my nose. He’s a rotten kitten.” Clint sat down and slid a glass of water Bucky’s way. Impressive enough, Clint was also drinking water. He settled his arms on the table and laid his head down. Bucky used his free hand to reach over and run his fingers through his hair, feeling the large goose egg and wincing. “You are going to make me fall asleep,” he murmured.

“Maybe that’s my goal,” Bucky hinted before he stopped. “If it helps, you didn’t miss anything today. It was long and boring. Nothing to it. I am pretty sure anyone could have handled it. Definitely wasn’t a worthy Avengers event.”

“You’re a liar and I love you for it,” Clint said, turning his head to look at Bucky with a sleepy smile. Bucky loved Clint’s sleepy smiles, they were definitely becoming his greatest weakness. Then again, there wasn’t a part of Clint that wasn’t his greatest weakness.

Bucky ate the rest of his food, getting up to grab some vegetables to eat because he was still trying to set a good example. Clint snorted at his attempt and partially hid his face at the notion of sharing. However, he did get up after a minute or two, press a kiss to Bucky’s cheek, and did the dishes. By the time Bucky was done with his food, Clint was done with the dishes and was grabbing his hand.

“Come on.”

“Where are we going now?” Bucky asked, moving to comply.

“We are taking a bath.”

Bucky put the brakes on as gently as he could. “I have a lot of cleaning to do before I can settle.”

“Laundry is done, just needs to be put away, the things that don’t hung up- those are already put away. Picked up out here, and kinda started to clean the bathroom. I think it can wait until tomorrow,” Clint reasoned.

Bucky was more surprised at how much Clint had gotten done. But now that Clint had said it, the living room was picked up, and it smelled like he had vacuumed. Bucky was almost certain that he hadn’t actually finished the laundry, but he was right- it didn’t matter that night. However-

“Not so sure it’s a good idea, doll. Anyway, I’m not in the mood.”

Clint frowned and was silent for a moment before he blinked. “Oh.  _ Oh _ . Oh no. I mean- yeah, no. I’m still kinda nauseous so no. I just meant-” Clint had to think for a minute. “I mean I want to take a bath but I’m not allowed in hot steam by myself cause, y’know, pass out risk. And you look like you need a bath. So I thought maybe we could share?”

That wasn’t something Bucky had expected. “You want to share a bath?

“I’m very good at giving neck massages if you let me prop up against the back of the tub,” Clint offered.

“I can’t argue with that,” Bucky said, walking with Clint. “Doll, if you aren’t feeling good we can just crash on the bed and put a movie on.”

“I really want a bath with you though,” Clint said quickly. “Look, we’ll help either other out. We can both soak in scalding hot water. You can make sure I don’t drown, and I will rub your shoulders. And then you can whisk me away to bed so we can sleep off the rest of the day.”

“Not scalding hot but I accept these terms.” Clint gave him a shy little smile before they gathered up their pajamas and went to the bathroom. Bucky noticed the basket of folded clothes next to the dresser as if he did make an attempt at putting them away. And the bathroom was, in a way, a little cleaner. The towels had been picked up and tossed into the hamper, and it looks like the trash had been taken out.

For what it was worth, Tony had installed the largest tubs Bucky had ever seen in his life in the bathrooms. They came installed with those jets that seemed to work the knots out just right. Bucky wasn’t ashamed to say he had spent many nights in that tub when he first came to the Tower, just enjoying the warmth of it and the miracles that were water jets. Now though, he was going to experience it for the first time with Clint, who only seemed to take baths when he was overly sore.

Clint was already rubbing at his face and Bucky had half the mind to drag him off to bed, wait until he fell asleep, and then shower by himself. He was slowly taking his clothes off before he looked at Bucky expectantly. Bucky sighed and took his clothes off, tossing them into the same pile Clint had thrown his.

“You are in charge of the water temperature,” Clint said. “Please make it hot though.”

“I can handle it,” Bucky assured him. He winced when he saw the large bruise extending from Clint’s shoulder and collar bone and back towards his back. He hadn’t noticed the bruises on his hip and knee, likely from the impact as well. “Oh, honey.”

“It’s alright. I can handle it. I’ve had worse,” Clint admitted. 

Bucky knew that was true but it didn’t make him feel any better. He turned his attention to getting their bath started instead and Clint gathered up soap and washcloths, stacking them by the tub before he climbed in.

“Ah, hot as Satan’s smoking ass,” Clint declared.

“What does that even mean?” Bucky asked.

Clint looked up with a bit of a grin. “Sorry.  _ Ah _ . Hot as Steve’s American ass,” he corrected.

“You are so weird,” Bucky mumbled. “You sure about this? I don’t want to hurt you.”

“You aren’t going to hurt me. Come on,” Clint said, splashing some water up. He pulled his legs up and waited. “Arm off.” Bucky rolled his eyes and muttered something about it being water resistant at the depth they were working with.

Bucky climbed in and eased down, waiting to spring up the instant Clint made any sort of noise. Instead, he was greeted by water that was verging on too hot and his boyfriend’s hands pulling him back to his chest. Bucky tilted his head up to look at Clint and received a peck to the crown of his head. Clint slowly relaxed his legs and sank just a little, making himself comfortable. Bucky waited until he was afraid of overspill before he turned the faucets off and leaned back.

“I have to admit- this is kind of nice,” Bucky said after a few minutes of peace, his hand rubbing Clint’s non-bruised leg.

“We should do this more often,” Clint admitted, his hands rubbing Bucky’s shoulders, working out some of the knots when he found them. Bucky moaned at the one Clint found and his body went lax under his touch.

They fell into a comfortable silence, Clint moved around his back and shoulders as much as he could before his hands ran over Bucky’s chest. It was weird not feeling the rough calluses brush against his skin, replaced with softer, water soaked fingers.

Clint settled at wrapping his arms around Bucky. Bucky’s hand was still gently rubbing Clint’s leg, feeling himself start to drift off. He hadn’t realized how much he had needed something like this, and was pretty sure he was going to have to suggest this again. He just hoped it wasn’t something that would only happen when Clint was in one of his odd moods.

Clint took a deep breath and let it go slowly. Bucky turned just enough to make sure he was still awake and smiled as Clint looked up at the ceiling. When he looked back down he had looked confused for a moment before he broke out a half smile.

“We should get out,” Bucky hinted.

Clint’s arms tightened a little, his legs shifting to dig into Bucky’s thighs a little. “Not ready yet.”

“Can we at least switch so I can wash you?”

“Not a chance. I’m comfortable.” Bucky grunted and slouched- Clint whined and pinched at his skin. “No slouching, I can’t reach you as well.” Bucky splashed water up at Clint in retaliation and Clint laughed. “Come on, we don’t do this often. Tell me about something. Anything. Something I don’t know yet.”

“You are being awfully clingy tonight.”

“I was left on my own all day and I got bored,” Clint answered. Bucky tapped on his leg, calling out his oversimplification of his day. If Clint had started cleaning, taking over the chores that weren’t his to do that day, there had to be more. “Okay,  _ fine _ . I had time to think and thinking is bad. I’m not talking about me today. I want to talk about you.” He angled his feet just right to dig into Bucky’s calves. “I’m trying to be the good boyfriend that I am here.”

“Alright, alright,” Bucky caved.

Bucky moved despite Clint’s whine of protest and turned the faucet so it wouldn’t dig in his back. He leaned against the back of the tub and looked across at Clint. He didn’t have a clue on what he wanted to talk about. But watching Clint, Bucky’s mind wandered to the last forty-eight hours, which meant he really couldn’t come up with anything to talk about. “Today sucked without you,” he said with a sigh.

“I’m sorry,” Clint answered, swallowing before he looked down.

“Not your fault,” Bucky answered. “An error was made and you got hurt. I was terrified. I’m just glad you’re okay.” Clint reached under the water and tugged at Bucky’s foot, making him slip so that Clint could work on something. “You should be a little mad at me for letting you get hurt, y’know.”

“Nothing to be mad about, babe,” Clint answered. “We all have moments where we lose focus. And really, I’m not that banged up. Got off kinda easy.”

“I was supposed to be spotting you,” Bucky added firmly. He nearly jumped out of the bath when Clint pressed down on a pressure point and his leg jerked.

“Yeah, well, you’ll make up for it,” Clint answered with a smirk. He switched feet and yawned. “Anyway, I needed a day off. And now I get to milk it for five more. As long as you get to stay home for those five days, I’m golden.”

Bucky nodded and smiled weakly as he watched Clint work his way up to Bucky’s ankle and calves. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked. Clint looked back up again and raised an eyebrow. “It’s just… this is out of character for you.”

“I’m fine. I promise,” Clint promised.

They fell back into a comfortable silence again. Clint worked out the sore muscles in Bucky’s calves, getting a slightly glossed over look in his eyes. Bucky gave them both a few more minutes until the water of the tub felt like it was about body temperature. When Clint suppressed a yawn, Bucky leaned forward.

“I need to take a shower. Wash my hair,” Bucky informed him. “Which means we need to get out before we both decide to drown tonight.”

“Well hell, babe, there’s a cup. Just wash it in the tub.”

Bucky sat back before he stared at Clint. “You are kidding, right? You don’t do baths, and now you want to muck up the water more with you in it? I don’t even wash my hair in the bath.”

Clint gave it some consideration before he groaned. “Fair point.” He poked at Bucky, and taking the hint, Bucky got up. 

Bucky toweled off just enough where he wasn’t leaving water everywhere before he helped Clint up. Clint winced and his face scrunched, Bucky murmured a sympathetic apology. Clint finally made it out and stole the towel before he wrapped in around himself and leaned against Bucky.

“You should grab an ice pack or twelve,” Bucky suggested gently. “Put your clothes on, layer up on the ice packs, and if you’re asleep when I get done with my shower, I’ll collect them and put them away.”

“Actually, uhm-” Clint wrinkled his nose for a minute, and Bucky knew he was going to ask something that Clint considered awkward. In a moment, Clint let go of a breath he had been holding before he nodded. “Yeah, alright.”

“What were you going to say?” Bucky questioned.

“I was going to ask if maybe I could wash your hair.”

Bucky inspected Clint’s face, trying to find something, he just wasn’t sure what it was. Clint gave him an awkward smile, looking all kinds of innocent. Bucky gave him a sympathetic smile before he kissed him for the briefest moment.

“Rain check,” Bucky murmured. “You can barely stand on your feet right now. You can do it some other night. Come on, let’s get you to bed.”

Defeated, Clint nodded and dried himself off before he pulled some pajamas on. Bucky almost lost his resolve at the look on Clint’s face, but he knew he had made the right choice when Clint swayed a little on his feet and held onto the door frame for a moment. Clint bypassed the idea of ice packs altogether as he climbed into bed.

“It just sucks, y’know?” Clint asked. Bucky waited a moment for Clint to continue. Clint took his time, arranging the pillows and making faces until he settled with a sigh. “You’re always the one taking care of me and I just wanted to get it right tonight.”

“You take care of me more than you realize, hun,” Bucky said, grabbing a flat pillow from under the bed and tucking it under Clint’s elbow to help him get comfortable. “And you can’t say that you didn’t try tonight. You made me sit down and warmed up my food. Put my favorite topping on. Grabbed water. You wanted to take a bath with me, which might be my new favorite thing.”

“That’s nothing,” Clint said, pulling out one of his hearing aids.

“Nah,” Bucky said, crawling on the bed. He kissed the pout off Clint’s lips and pulled out his other hearing aid, taking them both and placing them carefully on the nightstand.  _ It’s everything on nights like this _ he signed.


End file.
